Standing desks have become increasingly commonplace in not just offices, but also households as the number of people working from home becomes more widely accepted. Helping this along over the past few years, standing desks have become more robust, easier to set up, and thankfully, more affordable, with the FlexiSpot E7 range being an ideal choice for those wanting a more dynamic, adaptable home workspace.
The reasons for upgrading to a standing desk are pretty apparent. Spending the majority of your nine to five grind ensconced in even the fanciest of office chairs can begin to feel uncomfortable, especially if you’re prone to worrying about bad posture and the general unhealthiness of being sat in the same spot for hours on end. Using a standing desk like the FlexiSpot E7 Pro won’t immediately help you get in better shape, though I found that having the option to alternate between sitting and standing helps to boost productivity while also encouraging healthier habits like regular stretching and being more active during screen breaks.
Working in this way can definitely take some getting used to, and there will be those of you who simply can’t put a finger to keyboard without having your bottom firmly planted on a chair. While primarily marketed as a standing desk, the adjustable height of the FlexiSpot E7 alone makes it a tempting upgrade for those wanting to better utilise their home office space, especially if they share a desk with someone who prefers a higher or lower work surface. As someone who is 6’4” (we’re all relatively massive here at TSA) one of my biggest frustrations when buying desks in the past is making sure my legs can tuck comfortably underneath, which has often resulted in the need to buy various furniture pads and risers. The FlexiSpot E7 Pro has been a silver bullet in this respect, allowing me to adjust its height to the exact centimetre required, also meaning I no longer have to worry about dimensions when shopping for desk chairs.
The desk arrives well packaged – every component was neatly nested in quality foam inserts, protected by layers of reinforced cardboard, the desktop and frame supplied into two separate boxes. The assembly instructions were far from exhaustive with 12 steps to follow and, all in all, it took just over an hour to go from cutting into the first box to having a state-of-the-art standing desk ready to go.
That’s not to say the building process was seamless. Although the components were clearly marked (it’s always nice to have screws and bolts in individually lettered bags) the assembly required a drill and some handy guesswork. For instance, the underside of the desktop was covered in small holes that would typically, when assembling furniture, denote where to place screws. Most of these aren’t used at all during the assembly, and are presumably meant for upgrades such as drawers or different sets of legs. There were also some holes that didn’t quite line up with the metal frame and others that needed drilling, which kind of goes against the whole flatpack/quick assembly ethos even if it wasn’t too technical a hurdle to overcome. With some tight fastening, the finished desk is incredibly sturdy with no wiggle room and a hefty weight that will require two people to flip once fully assembled. Or one very impatient person wanting a quick dose of searing back pain.
For those who may have slightly uneven surfaces in their home, the four attachable feet can help mitigate any potential lean or wobble. However, for a newly carpeted floor, I chose to skip this step and found the desk surprisingly easy to move and reposition despite its weight.
With three frame colours (white, black, and grey) and a diverse selection of desktop finishes and sizes to choose from (the largest being 2000mm by 800mm), the FlexiSpot E7 can be customised to fit any setting. Supported by super stable, 3-stage adjustable legs, it has an impressive weight capacity of 160 kilos which is more than enough to handle any work or gaming setup, while the concealed cable tray allowing you to efficiently tidy the accompanying jungle of wires and adapters.
In terms of height range, the E7 Pro can more than double in size from 635mm to a max of 1285mm. You can adjust the height seamlessly by using the keypad included, attached to the underside of the desktop, which also has a USB power slot ideal for charging your phone or other devices. When in motion, the desk glides quietly up and down with a satisfying smoothness that will have you regularly playing around with the keypad upon first use. What’s particularly good it that there are four programmable buttons to save preferred height settings, making it easy to switch between the ideal standing and seated heights for two people, as well as a handy child lock toggle.
The FlexiSpot E7 Pro isn’t inherently designed for gaming, though the same can be said of the office desk or television cabinet that you’re using to play PC and console games. The colour options available (particularly black on black) slot into the “gamer” aesthetic touted by other desk ranges targeting this demographic, and the adjustable height means that the E7 can be used in combination with any gaming chair without worrying about your legs getting pinned beneath the desktop or having your arms reaching for the keyboard and mouse at an uncomfortable angle.
As someone whose work day demands long stints of being handcuffed to a computer, the degree of adjustability is a godsend and, as previously mentioned, being able to shift between standing has led to untapped bursts of productivity. The desk won’t turn you into Joe Wicks overnight, though it definitely helps encourage healthier habits while working and gaming that are bound to have an ongoing impact on posture – FlexiSpot even sells a treadmill upgrade for those serious about burning a few calories.
